Chapter 23
Early Tuesday morning, on the open ground floor beneath the freshman teaching building at Yuanyue Academy, a nervous crowd had already gathered outside the covered walkway.
On the wall hung a huge blackboard whose color clashed violently with the surrounding tiles.
Right now it was still blank.
"Almost ti, right?"
"I'm so nervous."
"How co ever since the new dean arrived from Longguo the administration's gotten so efficient? Back then we at least got a week's stay of execution—now it's just the weekend!"
Down the covered walkway ca a pink-haired girl in a JK uniform, chin high, chest out, slicing through the chatter.
She carried a roll of paper almost as tall as she was; two Student-Council mbers followed.
"Here she cos! The Secretary's bringing the imperial decree!"
"Lady Yua Lina, please, please don't email my parents this ti!"
"No, anything but that—forwarding grades to them!"
Groans rose on every side. Yua Lina, bathed in their misery, walked up to the blackboard like a court official sent to distribute famine relief, surrounded by starving peasants wailing their plight.
She flashed her sunniest smile and gave everyone a thumbs-up.
"Don't worry! Even if the results aren't great, with your parents' loving encouragent you'll definitely improve next ti!"
"Stop—!"
"No—!"
The sentence of doom had been pronounced.
Yuanyue Academy required every entrant to supply a guardian's email address; for any major school event the office would invite the parents—and, as an afterthought, attach the child's grades and sester evaluations.
The Student Council and the Academic Affairs Office handled the logistics together.
Yua Lina, unmoved by the lantations of the people, turned to pin up the score sheets.
The two council mbers stepped forward to help her unroll the freshman-year list and fix it to the board.
Far above, on the second floor, Yan Huan cradled a cup of black tea while Sakuramiya Hitomi watched the drama unfold.
He stifled a yawn, trying to chase away the drowsiness with another sip. It didn't work.
Suddenly he laughed.
"As expected, putting Yua Lina in charge was the perfect choice."
Sakuramiya drew her gaze back and nodded.
"Exactly. It's the kind of thankless job everyone hates, but Yua Lina's so popular no one can stay mad at her."
The gigantic score sheet was revealed section by section until it covered the entire board.
A hush fell; everyone held their breath, eyes flicking across the nas.
Yan Huan – 499, Rank 1
Sakuramiya Hitomi – 491, Rank 2
Hashimoto – 474, Rank 19
An Le – 457, Rank 41
Ashley Garcia – 441, Rank 56
Yua Lina-Swy – 398, Rank 107
Bai Yi – 292, Rank 152
Aria Spencer – 66, Rank 178
The five core subjects were Reading, Writing, Mathematics, Social Studies, and Science.
Including the transfer students this sester, the entire freshman year numbered 178. The maximum score was 500.
"Ah, Old Gao—what's wrong? Don't collapse!"
"Haha, I passed! I passed!"
"Brute, what exactly did you pass?!"
Whenever the scores were posted, the students always invented new skits to mask the emotions churning inside them—who could tell who rejoiced and who despaired?
In Linn, exam scores weren't destiny; still, Yuanyue Academy took them seriously.
Though every school followed the sa system, the gulf between institutions was vast.
South-district high-schoolers, for instance, lived carefree days, their biggest worry the occasional check-up for gonorrhea or syphilis at the community clinic.
But the two schools in Jinghe District—Yuanyue and Xiuzhi—were incubators for the next elite stratum, and their demands were legion.
"President, first place again—congratulations."
Sakuramiya applauded silently and spoke her congratulations.
Yan Huan rely smiled. His gaze wasn't on his own na; he was scanning for two others known to possess Modifiers—Bai Yi and Aria Spencer.
He couldn't find them toward the top, but then spotted them together, holding their own little celebration at the very bottom.
Bai Yi's poor showing was understandable.
Between idol jobs she only sporadically attended school. She might manage perfect attendance when she had free ti; otherwise she was perpetually absent.
Last week when Yan Huan saw her using a Modifier he hadn't recognized her at first—that was why.
And she'd run out of the math midterm halfway through to draw talismans for Zhou Bin; clearly she hadn't finished early.
Lose math and the whole average plumted—simple math.
Then there was the blonde, Aria Spencer.
Total score: 66.
Roughly 13 points per subject. Yan Huan could only sigh—poetry in motion.
Randomly bubbling the sa letter on every multiple-choice item would've netted more.
She trailed the second-to-last student by nearly a hundred. Whatever was perched on her neck, it must have been blessed with the luck of the beast 666.
"Alright, everyone! We'll take the board down by the end of today and email your parents—waaah!"
Yua Lina announced from below, hands on hips.
But tears shimred at the corners of her eyes; her forced smile and trembling fra were pure tragicody.
One glance told the whole story: she'd bombed too.
"Hahahaha!"
"Secretary Yua Lina, your day has co!"
"You're the weakest link in the entire Student Council!"
"It's okay, you're cute—we'll vote for you again next year!"
Instead of cheering up, Yua Lina burst into tears.
"Waaah, I only got elected because I'm cute—why doesn't that make happy at all? I'm like the Student Council's mascot!"
The courtyard roared with laughter; up on the second floor Yan Huan and Sakuramiya could only shake their heads.
Just then a bespectacled female teacher approached them.
"Yan, Sakuramiya, this way, please. Principal Hers would like to speak with you."
The two exchanged glances, tore their eyes from the farce below, and wondered what fresh mischief the old fox had in store.
"President Yan, Vice-President Sakuramiya—I'm delighted to see the Student Council under your leadership delivered a near-perfect report card last sester."
Principal Hers sat on the sofa, beaming like a chrysanthemum in full bloom.
"He's definitely been bribed again," the two thought in unison.
"Everyone was cooperative and willing to work with us," Yan Huan replied smoothly, skipping Hers' usual flattery routine.
"Rather than that, Principal, why did you summon us so early?"
Hers beckoned his assistant, who handed over several folders.
"Recently, Ye International, Golden Lion Group, and other major corporations have taken a keen interest in our students' developnt. They've provided a number of sumr internship slots—many departnts, many fields. Take a look."
The files listed company profiles and grade quotas.
Yan Huan flipped through them; he already knew what this was.
Plenty of students at the school had no background; these placents could tip the scales in future university applications.
After all, Yan Huan himself had taken the job at Yuanyue to gain exactly these kinds of opportunities.
"So how do the placents work?" he asked.
"Submit applications to the Student Council first. Before the sester ends the Council forwards the list to the Principal's Office for final approval."
Reviews are conducted along three tracks: GPA, involvent in student public affairs, and discipline records.
All three records are supervised by the Academic Affairs Office, the Student Affairs Office, and the Discipline Departnt—the school's three administrative branches. The student council can't tamper with them at will.
"I understand. We'll inform the students later."
Hers smiled and nodded, then reached for another sheet of paper.
For so reason, the sight of that paper made Yan Huan feel as though he were watching the map unrolled by Jing Ke—right before the dagger appeared.
"There's one more thing, Yan. In previous years the student council organized academic peer tutoring, but because participation was voluntary, the results were...underwhelming."
One-on-one tutoring was, in theory, supposed to encourage high-achievers to help classmates with poor GPAs under the council's guidance. Yet when both sides were free to walk away, nothing ever ca of it. Top students saw no reason to bother, and struggling students didn't want to look stupid in front of their peers.
"So this year," Hers continued, "the Academic Affairs Office wants the student council to pilot a program that revives the idea—with a bit of publicity."
He slid the paper across the table. It was a list of nas.
"We'll require a small group of the most academically at-risk students to join study groups as a demonstration, while offering top students preferential treatnt in scholarship applications and resource allocations if they lend a hand."
The map was fully unrolled; the dagger was in plain sight.
No wonder Hers had shown the first list—he'd been waiting for this mont.
Sakuramiya Hitomi, standing to the side, frowned slightly. Her gaze skimd the nas; several surnas were prominent in Linn. She had a fair idea of what the Board was playing at, but she kept silent and waited for Yan Huan to speak.
Yan Huan had planned to play along just enough to avoid embarrassing the principal. Announce the initiative, give a short speech, then quietly let it die on the vine. But as his eyes travelled down the page, two familiar nas leapt out:
"Bai Yi" — recomnded
"Aria Spencer" — mandatory
Spencer's na was printed in red.
Oh?
He had just been told to use the favor Spencer owed him. And here was the perfect opening.
Excellent. Everyone was landing right in his lap.
His gaze lingered on the two nas.
Sakuramiya knew roughly what he would say, yet minutes passed in silence. Unable to wait, she stole a glance—and froze.
Yan Huan was staring at "Aria Spencer" with an odd, almost regretful expression, as though weighing sothing in his mind.
That na... Last night, still unsettled by the blonde girl who had shattered her Boundary with one kick, Sakuramiya had looked it up. Aria Spencer was indeed the girl's na.
Why was the president reacting like this to her na?
What had happened between them yesterday afternoon?
"President?"
Sakuramiya's anxiety spilled over; she spoke without thinking.
"We understand. I'll notify the students involved and take full responsibility."
Take full responsibility—voluntarily?
Hers blinked. Seeing Yan Huan's polite smile, the principal's own grin widened.
"That's wonderful, Yan. The matter is in your hands. Contact at once if any problems arise."
"..."
Sakuramiya's lips parted; her fingers clutched her skirt.
First that older sister "Ye Shiyu," now this Spencer.
If the president's special gentleness toward Ye Shiyu ca from seeing her as family, then what about this blonde outsider? Her personality seed thoroughly disagreeable; nothing about her suggested she could get along with the president. So why had he hesitated?
No—calm down, Sakuramiya. Don't overthink.
Perhaps the kindhearted president simply wanted to help academically struggling classmates. And even if he tutored Spencer personally, what was wrong with that?
Everything was perfectly nor—
Normal my foot!!
Where had that thought even co from?
Sakuramiya had just begun to relax when her pupils shrank and a flare of pure fury ignited inside her.
"Then that's settled," Hers said. "Thank you both for coming so early; you should head to class."
"Understood, Principal."
Yan Huan gathered the papers and stood. Beside him, Sakuramiya remained seated. He raised an eyebrow.
"Sakuramiya?"
"Ah?"
She jolted upright, belatedly rising.
"Sorry, President."
Yet an instinct told her, louder by the second, that sothing was off.
That Spencer girl had definitely done sothing to the president.
Following Yan Huan out, Sakuramiya's expression turned ice-cold—almost murderous.
Calm... stay calm, Sakuramiya.
She repeated the mantra to herself.
Plans succeed in secrecy; words leak and ruin everything.
Hide your thoughts. Don't expose a single flaw.
Whether it's Ye Shiyu or Spencer, as long as she stayed hidden and plotted carefully—
The president would one day be hers alone, unseen by anyone else.
Exclusively hers.
"Achoo!"
Year 1 Class C, horoom.
Aria Spencer sneezed, sending the card house she'd spent ten minutes building across her desk.
"Soone's cursing ... Did Santa finally hear what I called him last year?"
She rubbed her chin, deciding that was the most plausible explanation. Soon she dropped the subject, pouting in annoyance.
Ever since yesterday, Spencer had had one persistent worry: for so reason, every classmate—no, everyone around her—seed to dislike her.
She had only transferred in the day before and had done absolutely nothing wrong. Whenever she tried to start a conversation, people answered with awkward one-liners; when she asked for help, they pretended not to hear and hurried away.
During yesterday's basketball period, she'd wanted to join a pickup ga, but the mont she approached, the others scattered. She ended up shooting hoops alone.
After class, everyone was supposed to return the balls to the equipnt room, yet no one told the new girl. By the ti she realized and doubled back, the door was locked.
Frustrated, she had kicked the door open—only to stumble upon Yan Huan and company in the middle of sothing scandalous.
Even though she now held leverage over him, Spencer was still irritated.
Ding-ding-ding—
The bell rang. Year 1 Class C's math teacher, Zhou Bin, walked in.
Zhou Bin, nicknad "the Math Departnt's Model Worker," was notorious for his uncompromising strictness. Yet his classes were excellent; Yan Huan, at least, considered him brilliant.
This sester Zhou Bin taught Classes B, C, and D of Year 1, as well as an optional afternoon math elective. Longguo people were born competitive, and Linn parents in particular trusted Longguo teachers with mathematics.
Today Zhou Bin wore a loose navy T-shirt stretched tight by a modest belly.
A silver crucifix rested against his chest, his left wrist wrapped in red talisman paper, and a string of prayer beads circled his right hand. With all these protective items in place, even his bald head—normally just shiny in the sunlight—now seed to glow with a holy aura.
"An. Blessed be the Tao. Amitabha. Please let survive whatever ghost has been haunting since last Friday."
Zhou Bin rubbed the talisman band around his wrist, then—abandoning his usual stern expression—forced his face into an awkward smile.
"Good morning, my dear students. Let's open our textbooks to page fifteen, shall we?"
...
Every eye in the room went wide. They stared at Zhou Bin like he'd been replaced by so shapeshifting demon.
He adjusted his glasses with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "My dear students?"
"Oh! Right, yeah..."
Zhou Bin apparently believed last Friday's supernatural incident happened because he'd been too strict—his students' resentnt had manifested as a vengeful spirit.
Everyone pulled out their books except Spencer, who stood frozen at her desk. She glanced at the textbooks around her, then rummaged through her bag: manga, laptop, snacks, power bank...
She smacked her forehead.
Forgot my book again!
Looking around, she noticed the seat beside her was empty. Its owner—a well-endowed girl nad An Le, apparently—hadn't returned from wherever she'd gone.
Spencer spotted An Le's textbook on the desk. After a mont's hesitation, she casually reached over and took it. Following Zhou Bin's instructions, she flipped to page fifteen and tilted her head at the incomprehensible text. Leaning closer, she tried to make sense of the words.
After a few seconds, her face scrunched up in utter confusion. Then she yawned—a huge, theatrical yawn—and her whole body sagged with exhaustion.
So boring.
She listlessly spread the book open on her desk, and a bookmark slipped from between the pages.
"Huh? What's this?"
She picked up the crumpled paper bookmark. Written in childish, uneven strokes: "Yan Huan and An Le will be together forever."
Two different handwritings—clearly they'd written it together.
Spencer's bored expression froze. Then, as her eyes widened, the look lted away entirely.
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